There was always more than a touch of little-boy imp in Maurice Sendak, which probably goes a long way to explaining the magic he wove with such characters in the books he wrote and illustrated.

Sendak died today in Danbury, Conn., in the wake of a recent stroke. He was 83.

From the early 1960s on, he was staple reading for children. His trilogy of “Where the Wild Things Are,” “In the Night Kitchen” and “Outside Over There” were among his core works. His final book – at least in his lifetime – came in September: “Bumble-Ardy,” which he wrote, and in a departure from his later decades, also illustrated.